Before you decide on anything about Open Directory, you need to determine what Lion Server is using to store user accounts. Depending on the choices you made when you installed Lion Server, you may not[more…]

Whether you use a detailed Gantt chart or just a quick sketch on a cocktail napkin, start your Open Directory deployment in Lion Server with a plan. Here are some considerations to ponder prior to your[more…]

If, during your initial Lion Server setup, you configured Server Assistant so that it created an Open Directory master for you, it should have also set up DNS. If you didn’t do this configuration during[more…]

Time synchronization between the Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) and your Lion Server clients is critical. Time skew, or the difference in time between the KDC and clients requesting Kerberos tickets[more…]

You can use the Server app in Mac OS X Lion Server to import information from another directory. If you choose this option in Server Assistant during installation, the server creates an Open Directory[more…]

You can create an Open Directory master using Lion’s Server App, but you won’t have access to a number of the options that are available in Server Admin on Lion Server. Follow these steps to create an[more…]

Having one or more replicas on your Lion Server network greatly helps reduce the load on any one domain server and adds peace of mind in case a server fails. An Open Directory replica is essentially a[more…]

The directory service is one of the most critical elements of Lion Server network or any network for that matter. If the directory crashes, you will need an archived back up copy from which to restore.[more…]

In the event that your Open Directory domain on Lion Server becomes corrupt or you lose user records, you can restore from an archive. The process is essentially the same as the backup process, but in[more…]

You share the directory by creating a binding between the client and the Open Directory domain on Lion Server. Bindingcreates a connection between the server and the client, enabling the client to read[more…]

Because Lion Server dropped the ability to act as a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) for Windows clients, Windows clients cannot authenticate to a directory hosted on Lion Server. However, you can run an[more…]

Lion Server can host a directory for your network of Mac, Windows, and Linux computers. It can also make use of a directory residing on other servers. And it can help integrate your Mac users into a Windows-based[more…]

Mac OS X Lion Servers can bind to a variety of directories, including the native Open Directory, Microsoft Active Directory, Novel eDirectory, various OpenLDAP systems running on other Unix and Linux servers[more…]

In most modern network directories such as Mac OS X Lion Server, LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) defines how clients communicate with the directory over TCP/IP networks. Computers use LDAP[more…]

In some cases, Mac OS X Lion Server administrators want to configure settings that only appear in the advanced options of the Directory Utility to specify particular ways that the Mac OS X Server interacts[more…]

Active Directory requires that domain name services (DNS) be working properly so that the Mac OS X Lion Server hostname and IP address are linked. The linkage should work both in forward and reverse[more…]